What were your fondest memories from your playing days?

[gigantes]

TBH I really just miss the burn.
Win or lose games, it's such a great 'go-home' feeling. Know what I mean?

I loved 3on3 or 4on4, but 2on2 would do in a pinch!

Watch on YouTube

Whatchu got Bills, MGrand, y'alls?

[Stone]

I'm 60 and my playing days ain't over.........

One of my best stories is kind of comical. My cousin used to always tell me about his friend Chris. And how great this guy was and he was going to be a pro.....on and on. So at that time we had a job delivering mattress's. Long story short, he drags me out to the boondocks of Brooklyn, I think somewhere in Gerriston Beach or Mill Basin to a court where his friends played hoops.

Sure enough his friend Chris was Chris Mullen. This was years before he was a pro. But the funny part was my cousin was the tallest guy so he had to guard Chris. He lit my cousin up like a Christmas tree. Think Rockefeller Center tree.

Other than that playing with close friends against random people. A few games going 8 for 8. We used to play to 11 by 1's.

One of my best memories was when I went to pick up my son from practice when he was 13. He had his team mates and everyone in the gym watching him and cheering him on and he ran from the three point line and dunked a tennis ball and the whole place erupted.

[Papi_swav]

I'm still in my 20s but my playing days are pretty much over, I haven't touched a ball in maybe 6-7 years or so. I hope I get back into it, maybe when I have kids but I'm very busy right now. I was really good in my teens, never NBA good but regular ppl good. I had a great shot and made great passes and jumped very high for my size, ppl use to call me J kidd because I was that triple double threat kind of player. I always had nice handles too, they use to call me the Professor at times as well. I had my games we're I would drop like 18 pts in a game of 21 at a park and I was in tournaments dominating some games but my HS never had a ball team which sucked but we had a great ball court and we used to play in gym or after school sometimes.

But my best memory was in HS playing wit my friends and a bunch of girls watching and I would jump high grabbing rebounds over dudes way taller than me. I would clap alot meaning, lay the ball up while touching the backboard and ppl would be like "ohhh he clapped it on u" ! I remember I went up for a fastbreak layup and I went so high that on the finger roll the back of my hands touched the rim as I laid it in. I was soooo hype and ppl were like "bro you could of dunked that" I was like I never got that high before. I'm only 5'9 but that was awesome to know I had bungees like that. After HS I only played here and there but if I continued playing regularly I would of definitely been able to dunk on the regular.

[gigantes]

...Other than that playing with close friends against random people. A few games going 8 for 8. We used to play to 11 by 1's...

Wait, Stone, you can't possibly mean... 8 vs 8 all on one court?!

Good story though; I love how your friend sorta played himself like that. XD

... but my HS never had a ball team which sucked but we had a great ball court and we used to play in gym or after school sometimes.

Dang Papi, what region did you grow up in?
When I go back to S.America, I'm always amazed that there are actually some courts there, and some actual decent players. Gotten my personal ass kicked many a time, too.

I would clap alot meaning, lay the ball up while touching the backboard and ppl would be like "ohhh he clapped it on u" ! I remember I went up for a fastbreak layup and I went so high that on the finger roll the back of my hands touched the rim as I laid it in. I was soooo hype and ppl were like "bro you could of dunked that" I was like I never got that high before. I'm only 5'9 but that was awesome to know I had bungees like that.

Word. (as we used to say back in the day in the States)

I'm only 5'8" with WMNMD (White man / native man disease), can barely jump over an erect matchbook, so good for you, matey. But I also started really late to bball, around age 21/22, and had no idea WTH I was doing. The brothers at the university courts were doing claps / slaps on layups with the front of their hands, so I guess they'd get the shot off first, then at their jump peak, slapped the backboard HARD with their palms or fingers. It was pretty wild to me.

For you to do that at 5'9" is pretty Spud Webb far as I know. oO

Thankfully, those boys never gave me the gas face (anyone remember "3rd Bass?"), and were incredibly forgiving upon my extreme noobiness. Damn, those were the days!

Me, I always had a horrible shot, mainly down to self-education I guess, but I loved handling, passing, and making acrobatic layups around the basket. I only ever had two negative on-court experiences, one of which might have landed me in the hospital / morgue. Let's save that for another day, heh.

Btw, my clip in the OP is from almost two decades ago.
Jebus, I really miss playing this game. :/

[CalamityX12]

Being a consistent shooter from 3.... I could handle but not at the level of my friends


Now I'm a consistent shooter... in pool... wha whaaaa

[MrDollarBills]

My playing days ended around 2006, having flat feet and years of non stop basketball finally caught up to me, so i gave up basketball for weight lifting. I'm more like a linebacker's size now than a basketball player lol

What I remember most fondly was playing with my friends all day long during the summers. 3 on 3, 21, 5 on 5 full courts. It was just so much fun getting lost in the thrill of playing. I loved getting out in transition the most, sailing in for lay ups and dunks.

my shooting sucked though. I was mainly a slasher on and off the dribble. I guess that's why I don't mind the fact that Ben can't shoot

[MGrand15]

Love this thread

I still try to play when I can. Right before the pandemic hit, me and some friends would rent a court in Queens and run 5 on 5s for 2 hours. No dealing with strangers or having to wait 30 minutes for a game or any of the nonsense that comes with pick up ball. It was glorious. Kind of fell apart though.

I never really played at a high level but my favorite memories in organized ball was in intramurals in college. I got tired of the team taking dumb shots and just decided to run point like Harden. Telling people where to be. Slowing the game down. Just ran like 10 PNRs in a row and scored or assisted every time. Capping it off with an and-1 layup. Loved it cause 1. by this time, I lost most of my speed so I was cooking in slow motion and 2. that last possession the other team got frustrated and put their most athletic defender on me. Still got cooked. Seeing everyone so mad was hilarious.

I love hooping man. I'm short and unathletic so I'm not great but nothing feels better than getting hot and feeling like you can't miss. It's like a drug. Even just shooting around feels like therapy.

[Stone]

By 8 for 8, I meant taking eight shots and making all of them. Although there were only a very small handful of games that I did that and that's why I remember them.

[gigantes]

One more little story:

There used to be a nice full court in our suburb of Philly, right next to a lie-berry* and a playground.

Right after my first year of college, I really loved 'cutting my teeth' there. Indeed, little by little, I felt like I was *finally* getting to understand how the game worked. Like, huzzah!

The players were a mix of suburb / city boys, so a nicely diverse lot IMO of different ethnicities / cultures and so forth. Now sure, there were a few gals there from time to time, usually with their beer-chuggin' bboys or male homies, and that was also kind of fun. Oh dear.

So anyway-- I'm not totally sure, but I recall that court being there from at least the early 70's or so? Wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if it went back to the 50's. Point is, it was kind of a local sports institution so to speak, and a little bit of sporting joy for all to enjoy.

Problem?

Unfortunately, some influential middle-class folks in the area evidently got concerned about 'rap elements' hanging around the courts. This was mid-90's.

Now granted, the court was getting borderline legendary at that point, and the quality of comp had been on the rise over years. (personally kinda cool for me, because the better I got, the better the comp, while never being totally overwhelming)

Long story short, those bastards had the court shut down and ripped up almost overnight. You'll never see earth-rippers and bulldozers work faster.

This was the first of various things that happened across my life that sorta inclined me towards 'F-CK the man' whereas I'd traditionally thought 'well, we enjoy the best of privileges, there's always going to be f-ckery, screwups, people left behind, and the middle-class being perfectly fine with it.'

But shizzle like this kinda smacked me in the face, little by little, that I was just kinda.. WRONG.


Lol, oof... my aim was initially to set the scene of our local court, and I guess I went all Ralph Nader or something. Point is to put the following stories in context, assuming I have time & energy to write them up. I'll leave this one to you-all, tho:

Now what was your FIRST time playing ball on a court? Did you like it? And then what happened...?

* library

[cam24thomas]

Just started playing this year because my girlfriend is in a team and she makes it easy to play because she is like the player-coach and controls everything I do not drive to the basket because my dribbling is too loose, but i attempt shots from about foul line distance when i'm open which i usually am My girlfriend has been playing basketball for longer than i've been alive! And she said she will play forever, so if we marry then so will i